Hi, thank you for your reply. I moved her tank into the sunshine and she's less-brown, but still not her usual dark-to-light green, so some of it may be temperature-related, some may be related to her hiding out in a dark aquarium ornament for a few weeks. I'm still concerned enough to take any and all advice, though.
1. Size of enclosure - 18 litre (approx 5 gallon?) plastic tank. Prev 40? litre glass tank had to stay when we moved house. I'm currently trying to find a reasonably-priced second-hand terrarium, but so far no luck. Will resort to an aquarium with DIY mesh top if all else fails.
2. # of inhabitants - Just this one frog. Prob-female golden bell frog, about 55mm (2") long.
3. Humidity - no idea; I have no measurement tools. Not terribly high, as there's no condensation, but there's plenty of water in the tank.
4. Temperature - again, no idea. Fairly cold as it's unheated, but then GBFs are endemic to the area, so tank temp is still higher than what it would be in the wild.
5. Water - purchased natural spring water, usually aired/set out for a while prior to going in the tank.
6. Materials used for substrate - currently just large pebbles/stones; floor is bare in the interests of hygiene over aesthetics. Have prev. had a natural set-up with clean soil, rocks, ferns.
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials. - Aforementioned stones/small rocks, one potted fern that is soon to be replaced (it's getting big enough to shed hairs, so I want it gone). Prev had an aquarium castle, which I've ditched as too-hard-to-clean, and a resin food dish that was a pain in the butt. Needs more climby-things and plants, yes, but I don't have anything on hand right now that I consider clean/non-toxic enough. I need a trip to the pet store after I get paid.
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv. - All items are scrubbed and boiled before going in.
8. Main food source - Flies & mealworms (I now know better than to feed her mealies very often, hooray for care sheets!).
9. Vitamins and calcium? - I need to get some (prev. didn't know about it, and then when I found out, it took me a little while to find somewhere local that sells spray/powder). Tried reptile vitamin sticks a couple of months ago; she's not interested. :-/
10. Lighting - none. Out of budget so far, and I've been told bell frogs don't need them?
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure - moving it into the sun for a while each day where possible. The weather is getting quite dark now, so I'm willing to look at heating options if necessary (although she seemed fine last winter).
12. When is the last time he/she ate - Based on the number of bug-corpses I pulled from the tank when I cleaned it yesterday, I'm guessing about a week ago? I'll try again tonight, I suppose. She doesn't look thin, though.
13. Have you found poop lately - no, but she seems to have a bad habit of pooping in the water where it breaks up and disperses, so it's hard to tell.
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure
[camera batteries currently flat; will update this evening]
15. How old is the frog - about 18 months, from memory (I'm guessing we count from morph, rather than hatch, or..?)
16. How long have you owned him/her - from a 6-week-old tadpole (19ish months total)
17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred - wild caught as a tadpole, raised in captivity
18. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats - not diverse enough, IMO. Prev. had a spray-free garden that provided varied food, but have moved house, and I don't trust the local environment to be clean and healthy. Feeding store-bought flies and mealworms (see above), with slaters when I can catch them in a non-toxic looking part of the property.
19. How often the frog is handled - not often. She doesn't seem to like it, so I'm scared to stress her.
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area - high traffic area, but well out of the way. Is covered in a cloth at night time to attempt some kind of circadian rhythm (we have a lot of ambient un-natural night time light).
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc) - fresh water topped up weekly, full clean 3-4 weekly or when it looks messy. Flotsam fished out when I can see/reach it, but with the water/pebbles it has a tendency to break up and sink into the cracks (this makes syphoning kind of difficult).






Reply With Quote
